Skip to main content

Motivation Quote by Bill Rodgers

"Anybody can be a runner... We were meant to move. We were meant to run. It's the easiest sport"

About this Quote

Rodgers isn’t selling running as an elite identity; he’s trying to steal it back from the gatekeepers. “Anybody can be a runner” is a provocation aimed at a culture that treats athleticism like a membership card: the right body type, the right shoes, the right pace, the right Instagram proof. He’s reframing the sport as a birthright, not a brand.

The line “We were meant to move” does more than sound motivational. It smuggles in a quiet critique of modern life: work that pins you to a chair, cities designed for cars, wellness marketed as a product instead of a habit. Rodgers, a marathon legend from the 1970s running boom, comes from an era when distance running became both counterculture and mass participation. His language echoes that moment: simple, democratic, slightly anti-consumer. No equipment, no field rental, no tryouts. Just you, gravity, and a stretch of road.

Calling it “the easiest sport” is deliberately mischievous. Anyone who has run a hard mile knows it’s not easy. What Rodgers means is access is easy, not effort. The subtext is permission: you don’t need to be fast to belong; you don’t need perfect technique to start. In one breath he lowers the barrier and raises the stakes: if humans are “meant” to run, then not running isn’t a personal failure so much as a cultural detour. Running becomes a small act of reclaiming the body from the schedule.

Quote Details

TopicSports
SourceHelp us find the source
Cite

Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Rodgers, Bill. (2026, January 15). Anybody can be a runner... We were meant to move. We were meant to run. It's the easiest sport. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/anybody-can-be-a-runner-we-were-meant-to-move-we-40790/

Chicago Style
Rodgers, Bill. "Anybody can be a runner... We were meant to move. We were meant to run. It's the easiest sport." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/anybody-can-be-a-runner-we-were-meant-to-move-we-40790/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Anybody can be a runner... We were meant to move. We were meant to run. It's the easiest sport." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/anybody-can-be-a-runner-we-were-meant-to-move-we-40790/. Accessed 18 Feb. 2026.

More Quotes by Bill Add to List
Anybody Can Be a Runner - Bill Rodgers Quote
Click to enlarge Portrait | Landscape

About the Author

Bill Rodgers

Bill Rodgers (born December 23, 1947) is a Athlete from USA.

19 more quotes available

View Profile

Similar Quotes

Leigh Steinberg, Businessman